Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman reacts to Albany defense attorney William J. Dreyer as he tries to convince the judges at the NYS Court of Appeals to keep Albany County Surrogate's Court Judge Cathryn M. Doyle on the bench Thursday, June 5, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. Doyle took action in cases between 2007 and 2010 without disclosing personal conflicts. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

The courtroom rises as judges enter the NYS Court of Appeals to hear arguments in the matter of Doyle v State Commission on judicial conduct Thursday, June 5, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. Albany defense attorney William J. Dreyer, left, tried to convince the judges at the NYS Court of Appeals to keep Albany County Surrogate's Court Judge Cathryn M. Doyle on the bench. Doyle took action in cases between 2007 and 2010 without disclosing personal conflicts. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Door of Albany County SurrogateOs Court Judge Cathryn M. Doyle on Thursday, June 26, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. The Court of Appeals upheld the decision to remove Judge Doyle from the bench for a series of conflicts of interest. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Door of Albany County SurrogateOs Court Judge Cathryn M. Doyle on Thursday, June 26, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. The Court of Appeals upheld the decision to remove Judge Doyle from the bench for a series of conflicts of interest. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

The Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Doyle, 60, a surrogate's court judge since 2001, should have recused herself from cases she presided over that involved her lawyer, campaign manager and Thomas Spargo, a former state Supreme Court justice whose relationship with Doyle was described in the decision as "as close as a friend can get."

"The determined sanction should be accepted ... and Cathryn M. Doyle removed from the office of Surrogate of Albany County," the judges wrote in a ruling released Thursday morning.

Doyle was suspended from surrogate's court in December. Her removal had been requested a month earlier by the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the state's watchdog panel for judges.

From 2007 to 2010, Doyle, of Slingerlands, failed to disclose what the court said were conflicts of interests in cases involving attorney William Cade, Spargo, Matthew Kelly, who managed Doyle's 2007 re-election campaign, and Spargo.

Cade represented Doyle when she was censured in 2007 in another case that linked to Spargo and his own battle with the commission. Doyle's was censured in 2007 for giving misleading testimony about a legal defense fund set up for Spargo, who was sentenced to federal prison in 2009 for attempted extortion and attempted solicitation of a bribe.

Doyle presided over an estate matter concerning Cade a year after her censure.

"This was improper," the ruling said of Doyle not disclosing that conflict.

The court was most damning in its assessment of Doyle failing to recuse herself from cases that involved Spargo. Spargo frequently went to Doyle's chambers, twice delivering papers to Doyle, the decision said.

Doyle "plainly should have disqualified herself from any matters involving her close friend," the decision said. "That Spargo was a frequent visitor to her chambers and commenced certain of these proceedings directly with the judge, instead of through the clerk's office, enhances the appearance of impropriety and favoritism."

According to the decision, Doyle argued that there was no conflict with her and cases involving Kelly because she said Kelly was only a volunteer in her campaign.

"Regardless of whether Kelly held the title of 'campaign manager' for the 2007 effort, he clearly exercised a leadership role and was heavily involved in the campaign," the court wrote.

Judge Eugene Pigott was the only member of the seven-judge panel to dissent. Pigott voted to instead censure Doyle.

"Judge Doyle's tenure is remarkable," Pigott wrote. "The charges here are few and minor and involve only an 'appearance of impropriety' and concededly resulting in no impropriety in-fact."